Three weeks into the 2019 legislative session, the battle lines are becoming clear.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is keeping a relatively low profile (for a new governor) and sticking to her plan of triaging state needs and responding to the most urgent among them.
Toward that end, shes told her cabinet members to make a deep-dive assessment of their agencies.
On the surface, its clear the budget crisis that crippled the state in the last several years of former Republican Gov. Sam Brownbacks administration did real damage.
But beyond the obvious need for more social workers in the states troubled foster care system and more snowplow operators at the Kansas Department of Transportation, Kelly needs to know more precisely where the lack of personnel and expertise is the most consequential.
What the data reveal will dictate her priorities for the next three years.
On the legislative front, Kelly is steeling herself for an early confrontation with Republican leaders on the tax-relief bill theyre rushing to her desk.
The measure that Senate President Susan Wagle is personally shepherding through the process would reduce revenues in the budget year that starts July 1 by about $191 million a year.
That is a very rough estimate. Lawmakers really dont know how much it would cost.
Whatever its price tag, the bill aimed mostly at reducing the tax burden on large multinational corporations alarms Kelly. It also concerns many lawmakers, including some who will, for political reasons, probably vote for it.
Theyre concerned the bill and the recession many believe is in the offing could plunge the state back into a budget crisis like the one triggered by Brownbacks tax-cutting experiment. He promised those cuts would jolt the Kansas economy into hyperdrive. Instead, they tanked state revenues.
From a political standpoint, Wagle and the Republicans have a strong hand. Theyve got backing from the powerful Kansas Chamber and some its most influential members.
A top executive from Spirit AeroSystems a big employer in the states Wichita-centered aviation industry recently told lawmakers they need to clearly define how the state will account for recent changes in the federal tax code and do it quickly.
Also, because the bill would return money collected from state payers only because of those federal changes, GOP leaders could charge Kelly with breaking a campaign promise in the event she refuses to sign the bill. A promise not to raise taxes.
Still, based on her specific request that lawmakers refrain from making any major tax changes, most expect Kelly will veto the bill.
